Hal T. Hickel is a visual effects animator for

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...

. At the age of 12, Hickel wrote a letter to

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

, outlining his ideas for a sequel to the original ''Star Wars'' movie (now known as '' Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''), and received a polite rejection letter from producer Gary Kurtz. The letter now hangs on the wall of Hickel's office at ILM. Twenty years later, Hickel found himself working on ''Star Wars'' after all, as a lead animator on ''

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Dan ...

''. A native of Bailey, Colorado, Hickel joined the Film Graphics Program at CalArts in 1982. He worked at An-FX from 1982 until 1988, and then joined

Will Vinton Studios William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his work ...

, working in stop-motion and motion control. Hickel began his animation career at Pixar in 1994, where he worked on '' Toy Story'' and the

THX THX Ltd. is an American company that develops the eponymous high fidelity audio/visual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, car audio systems, and video games. Founded ...

promos, as well as some of Pixar's short films. Hearing that a new ''Star Wars'' trilogy was in pre-production, Hickel applied for a transfer to ILM on the chance that he might get to work on the prequels. He was first assigned as an animator on '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', but was eventually assigned to work on ''The Phantom Menace'', and later its sequel, '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'', where he was responsible for the unique movement of the Droideka destroyer droids. His other credits include: '' A.I. Artificial Intelligence'', '' Space Cowboys'', '' Dreamcatcher'' and '' Van Helsing''. In 2007, Hickel won the BAFTA and the

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects. History of the award The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects ...

along with John Knoll, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall, for '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest''. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his work on '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story''.

References

External links

*
Rolling Out Droids - An Interview with Hal Hickel
Starwars.com, May 12, 2000.

'' ZDNet'', January 25, 2007. American animators Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners Living people Primetime Emmy Award winners Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Special effects people Stop motion animators {{US-animator-stub